title: Distribution of environmentally sensitive elements in residential soils near a coal-fired power plant: potential risks to ecology and children's health.
abstract: One hundred and twelve soil samples were collected from residential areas surrounding a coal-fired power plant at Huainan City, Anhui Province, China. The concentrations of environmentally sensitive elements (ESEs As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn) in soil samples were determined, and their potential ecological and health risks were assessed. Mean concentrations of ESEs in the downwind soils of the power plant are relatively higher than those in the upwind soils, pointing to a potential ESEs input from coal combustion. The calculated ecological risk of ESEs in soils indicates a relatively low ecological risk. Hazard quotient (HQ) of ESEs in downwind soils is 1.5, suggesting a potential health risk for children. However, the carcinogenic risk values of ESEs in soils are within the acceptable non-hazardous range of 1E-06-1E-04.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710075, China; University of Science and Technology of China - City University of Hong Kong Joint Advanced Research Centre, Suzhou, Jiangsu 251006, China; School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Guijian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chuncai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ruoyu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002681:China; D003031:Coal; D004463:Ecology; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis; D011210:Power Plants; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Environmentally sensitive elements; Power plant; Risk assessment; Soil